Cutlery



c.E. FLYNN y CUTLERY Oct, 18; 1949.`

Filed Aug. 29. 1945 Patented Oct. 18, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECUTLERY Clarence E. Flynn, St. Louis, Mo. Application August 29, 1945,Serial No. 613,262

1 Claim.

This invention relates to cutlery, and with regard to certain morespecific features, to safety guardsfor knives and the like, particularlyfor butchering, culinary and similar purposes.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofa guard construction so located with respect to the handle of a lpieceof cutlery that operating balance is preserved; the provision of a guardof the class described which automatically requires the user to employit regardless of how he grasps the handle of the cutlery carrying theguard; and the provision of a light-weight, comfortable guard of theclass described which is simple and economical to construct and apply tothe cutlery. Other objects will be in part obvious and ,in part pointedout hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations ofelements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which willbe exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possibleembodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a knife embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1; y

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view showing my new knife grasped in one way; and,

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the knife grasped inanother way.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

Hereinafter, a knife is referred to as a class example of the type ofcutlery to which the invention applies, and is not to be taken aslimiting.

Guard constructions are a necessity for certain knives, for examplebutcher knives for packing plant use. They would also be desirable forculinary knives if they were unobtrusive enough.

In the case of butcher knives, they are used with such speed, dexterityand force that if any mishap occurs in thrusting the knife, as forexample by striking with the knife point a bone or which extends thecutting element 3.

and the like. However, their use has not been popular for severalreasons. As constructed today, such guards are generally heavy andlocated at the base of the knife handle, like on a sword, in whichposition the operating balance of the knife (particularly a light one)is considerably impaired, particularly for quickly executing fancy cuts.As a result the guards are often .Surreptitiously removed by packinghouse employes, without the knowledge of those in charge o f safety,with resulting serious accidents and financial loss. Furthermore, theformer guards were so heavy and clumsy that they were seldom used forculinary cutlery; Whereas it would be quite desirable also toincorporate them for such uses. My invention overcomes the abovediiculties and encourages the wider spread use of knife guards.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, B indcates a blade ingeneral and H its attached handle. The blade B has a shank I frompresent embodiment the handle I-I consists in a wooden grip 5, slottedat 1 to receive the shank I. Holes through the handle in the vicinity ofthe slot 1 and shank I accommodate holding rivets 9.

Crosswise of the slot 1 is located a flatwise opening II serving as aguide which passes through the grip 5 from top to bottom. As indicated,the guide I I and the slot 'I intersect. At the intersection the-shank Iis notched as shown at I3 and I5, leaving a connecting portion I1. Thisportion I'I is located in a slot I9 of a slidable guard 2 I' and servesto hold the latter prisoner, though movable. This guard 2I is of a widthfor sliding freely in the guide II, and the slot I9 therein is of aWidth freely to slide around the connection I'I. The ends 23 and 25 ofthe guard 2l are respectively alternately accommodated in the notches I3and I5 (and the adjoining portions of the guide II). Thus in Figs. 2 and3 the end portion 25 is shown in the notch I5, but the guard may bepushed from this position in the direction shown by the arrows until theend portion 23 is in the notch I3. In either position, the respectiveend of the guard 2l is flush with the handle.

The knife may be grasped either as shown in Fig. 4 or in Fig. 5. Forexample, in Fig. 4 the cutting edge is toward the operator and in Fig. 5

it is away from him, both being common posi. tions for various cuts.Referring to the bottom` In the 21. In doing so it forces the slidingguard 2T outward to protrude from the top side 29 of the handle. Thisprotrusion takes place preferably between the third and fourth iingers3| and 33 in the operators hand. The length of the slide 2| ispreferably kept to a value that the protrusion is only between the ngersand not far, if any, beyond, so as not to interfere with surroundingobjects. This causes the slide 2l' to operate .as a guard since even ifthe knife is plunged downwardly hard and its point encounters anobstruction, the hand cannot slip down onto the `blade B.

In Fig, 5, wherein the knife is reversed in the hand, the palm of thehand comes against the top 29 of the handle, thus pushing the slide 22dout beyond the bottom 2l of the handle and again in between the thirdand fourth n'gers 31 'and 33 of the operator. Furthermore, the knife maybe turned upward, instead of downward, in either of the positions shownin Figs. 4 and 5 and operate equally well. The guard in any positionadjusts itself automatically to the operators grasp.

The slide` 2l may be made quite light andsince itis located at or nearthe center of the handle H, it does -not disturb the operating balanceof the knife for fast and complicated cutting operations. In practicethe actual weight of the only part that is needed in addition to theusual knife ,parts is of the order of an ounce, more or less,

particularly if the slide 2| is made of aluminum. Even this slightweight is somewhat offset by the loss of weight in the shank l latnotches I3 and l5 and from the handle H at guide II.

While a substantially (though not exact.) cen- -tral position is shownfor the guard on -the handle, it will be 4understood that any otherdesired similar median position may be satisfactory, as required byproper balance. By median position is meant one which, when the handleis grasped, enables the operator automatically to push the slide 2l outin between any two opposite .iingers For example, it might -be desiredto have the guard so located that ,a palm portion 4 of the hand wouldpush it out in between the rst and second ngers or between the fourthand fifth fingers.

While various shapes of the slide guard are satisfactory, the shape ispreferable which is flatwise perpendicular to the handle H and blade B,since this places a minimum amount of material between the operatorsfingers and makes almost imperceptible the feeling of the presence ofthe guard.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

,As many changes could be made in the above constructions Withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingldrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

I claim:

A reversible guard for a cutlery handle, the .latter having a space inwhich is contained a noncutting extension .from a cutting blade andhaving a transverse slot which is spaced in the handle ra substantialdistance from the cutting blade itself., said guard having a passageaccommodating Ythe non-cutting vhandle extension, whereby the guard maymove and the extension act as a stop for the guard, the guard beingmovable to and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the 40 Elfe :of patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Number

